Pipe-cleaning device



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June 24, 1952 H. JOHNSON 2,601,614

PIPE CLEANING DEVICE Filed May 25, `195o 2 SHEETS-SHEET 2 FIG. 3.

INVENTOR.

Patented June 24, 1952 fPnrEN-'frf foFFioE @Application.'May 125,

i 8` Claims. 1 The present .inventionisdirectedtoaL device' for cleaning. pipe.. and pipelines ...and is. partcicularly '..directed.. to., a device'lfonremoving 'obstructions from. pipelinescarr'ying petroleum products. and

-thelike 'Itis well .known V.tdlthe artth'at pipe lines, particularly those utilized',fof transporting oilgreat distances, across country, often contain obstructions. 'i If tlie line is assembled by welding, 'steel icicles or projectionsmay extendintojthe pipe at.

fthe welds. Moreover, in welded pipe'linesas well as pipelines assembledxwith screwthreztds there may be burrs and 'obstru'ctionssuchv as pieces: of .timber .and even'idead animals. YRipedinescarryingA 'gfluidj petroleumv andvv fthe" like-"may also.. have builtftup` on'I interior *surfaces'fi'.hereofV as they are used a 4layer of;A paraiiintwaxandthis: gradually accumulates fand "causes "restriction fof "ow 'L'throughithe yline: to isuchfeirtent asto..,:require periodic cleaning. YPipe V'lines carrying petroleum products such as. gasoline may be comel corroded with rust and other materials; which 'alsorestrict the'iiow of "thegasoline' 'through the pipe'ne .and require periodic cleaning. teV remove. the :obstruc- It isgthereforethemain object of thepresent'invention to provide adevce for'cleaningv pipes and j pipe lines in 'Whichthw` device is' .movedby- 'the "fluid pressure.

V"Another objectief" ithej present "invention" 'is` to provide ai devicemwhichl automatically" frees'` itself when stoppedi byg'obstructions.

A 'still flurtherl'object of `the;presentinvention is to;4 provide a pipecleaning device-` adaptedl` to travel 'through pipe lines' without severe-:erosion thereof.

LQtherbbjects adi .a dvantages;of` the.. present invention may. be. seen. litigal ..rea.`ci1 1g..t`if`A` the'. folf;lowing..descriptiontaken conjunction.v with..the accompanying...drawing..in-which Fig. 1 is an elevation, partly.in.-.-sect-ion;.of an embodiment.: of the ,mpi-i-esent. inventiomA arranged F Figi 2 is a viewetakenlalongfthe..lines:2 2of lgi -Itis.` a. .view oitherlongitudinal .member-4 of ,n .Communicating the., space....between.-the two.; pis- 195,0,.Serial N0...164,246

tons of Fig; 1 tothespaceahead of the first piston; Fig.' 8 shows a still further embodiment of 'the invention modifying the apparatus of Fig. lshowing a diiTerent arrangement of the helicaltrack- 5 wayandsleeve vcoacting therewith; and

FigfSis a^viewtaken along the lines Se-.Sbf y"Figi Bishowing the" modified trackway "of'FigJ' 1. Thep'rincip'alparts' of Athe apparatus include a' longitdinakm'ember I I on whichv is" mounted aiflrstpi'ston' I2. A secondY piston I'ismounted on a; sleeve Ill whi'chinl turnmakes a slidingt with the longitudinalfme'mber 1I. Means'L are provided to bias'both of the pistons" away from each other. l Referringnow' to: "the drawing and especially 'tolliigs 146, inclusive," numeral-I I designatesa longitudinal member defining with `its outer surfacea plurality'jof helical grooves I5` and acon "duit `I Ii providedwith ports I1 which'fluidly com- .20 municatethejspace AIa betweenpistons IZ'i'and I3 "withthe' space I8 immediately' ahead -v'of piston I2.

'Pistons I2l and: I3 may be made up of alternating Ysegmentsvof a'"deformable material suclrj as natural"orsynthetic rubber yor plastic material and annular abrasive surfaces. Thus, the pistons I2fandy I3 may include a rubber Adisc I9, a'wire brush 2li," a second rubber vdisc I 9 'anda second wire brush 20. Piston I 3v 'similarly `will comprise 30.21J rstdeformable" disc AIlka firstwire brush 20, a" second deformable disc lI9 and a seoond-wire brush 20. i Each 'of' the pistons is -also, provided With'an annular sealing member made up o fldeiormable' materials'such as' natural or synthetic ;v rubber lorplastic' which is indicated as' 2|. The pistonsiIZk and I3' are designed. to itsnugly'as shown .in .a pipeor pipeA line 22 which istobe cleaned. The piston I2 maybe mounted onthe Ilongitudinalmember II as shown, being held .40frmly thereon by a hexagonal slottedfnut T23 r`which nbears fri'ctionally against a steelplate 24 'which in turnybears against the deformabledisc "'I9. "To'provide rigidity'to the pistons theremay bearranged between thel elements thereof spacer '45=platesf"25. `-A back-'up plate 2S bears frictionally v5against 'the-annular sleeve'ZI fand the' former -'is Welded annularlyat ring 21 toa shoulder I Iaof the" longitudinalamemberI2. 'Piston I3 is simimlarlyj providedfwithspacer plates 25-and is'con- 0Anecte'd ,-.to the-sleeve I4! by a plate 28 which is Ak'-Welded'thereto annularly byweld 29. IBearing frictionallyagainst the-'sealing sleeve 2 I` ofpiston I3 is-fa -pla-te' which, in turn,.is held-against `.the piston I=3 by-.hexagonal nut 3|,ta collar lock- 55.n.ut 32 and .a nunca which yholas-me assembly Vin vthe direction indicated by the arrows.

in position on longitudinal member I I. The latter nut may be drilled and provided with a cotter pin 34. The sleeve I4 is provided with a plurality of pins 35 which protrude through the sleeve and the surface 36 thereof coacts with the grooves I5 defining helical trackways in the member I I. The pistons I2 and I3 are spaced away from each other as shown in the drawing and are provided with tension means illustrated by a coiled spring 31 attached at each end to pistons I2 and I3, which biases the pistons away from each other.

Referring now to Fig. 7, another embodiment of the invention with respect to the longitudinal member and the piston I2 is illustrated. In this cross sectional view piston I2 defines a plurality of bores 45 which communicate luidly the space IIIa occupied by spring 31 with space I8 ahead of the first piston I2. It will be seen also in this embodiment of my invention that the longitu- .dinal member II does not define a conduit, but

that a plurality of conduits 45 are defined by the ypiston I2 allowing the same end to be accomplished.

Referring to Figs. 8 and 9, another embodiment of the invention is illustrated wherein the helical trackway isdefined by raised surface 40 on the longitudinal member II and the interior surface of the sleeve I4 defines recesses 4I which coact with'the raised surfaces 4IJ to allow movement of the sleeve and therefore the second piston relative to the first piston.

In Fig. 8 the piston I3 is welded to the sleeve I4 at welds 29, but the sleeve I4 is extended backwardly and the longitudinal member II "projects back of piston I3 a greater length than in Fig. 1. In this embodiment of my invention the portion of the longitudinal member I I at the rearof piston I3 defines a plurality of' helical trackways which are adapted to coact with interior surfaces of the sleeve I4 as shown inFig. 9 oras shown in Fig. 1.

In the apparatus of the present invention described in the several embodiments in conjunction with the several figures of the drawing, power is provided for the assembly, including pistons I2 and I3, which is placed in pipe line 22, by fluid pumped therethrough, the fluid being iiowed As pressure is applied against the trailing edge 2| of piston I3, the whole assembly moves forward in pipe line 22 until it encounters an obstruction which resists forward movement of the assembly. When this happens the pressure exerted against piston I3 overcomes the resistance to forward movement of piston I3 by spring 31 and allows the piston I3 to move arcuately forward toward piston I2. Fluid trapped in the space IBa between pistons I2 and I3 is displaced therefrom through port I1, conduit 4IIi and port I1a into space I8 ahead of piston I2 allowing arcuate movement of piston I3 not to be resisted by compression of fluid in space I8a. As the pist0n I3 moves arcuately a hammer blow is delivered to piston` I2 and torque is applied tol piston I2 by the arcuate movement of piston I3 through spring 31, both ends of which are pressed against piston I3 and piston I2. This hammer blow vcauses at least arcuate movement of the piston tons I2 and I3 are subjected to equal, if any, wear and are provided with automatic means of free- 4 ing same from obstructions from pipe lines which the device is adapted to clean.

The apparatus of the present invention has been used successfully in cleaning an 8-inch pipe line carrying gasoline extending over 125 miles of countryside. When the device encounters an obstruction an observer walking alongside of the pipe line has heard the hammer blow occurring when thedevice. freed-itself from Aand removed obstructions from pipe lines in ."which it was placed.

The nature and objects of the present invention having been completely described and illustrated,

what I wish to claim as new and useful and to secure by Letters Patent is l. A devicelfor cleaning the interior surface of vpipe which 'comprises a longitudinal member defining with its outer surface at least one helical trackway, a first piston defining a peripheral abrasive surface f lxedly mounted on a yfirst end of said member, a sleeve slidably mounted on a second end of said member having an interior Surface .conforming to and engaging withsaid trackway and adapted to cause arcuate movement of ,said sleeve upon longitudinal movement "of said sleeve on said member, a second piston fixedly mounted on said sleeve defining a p eripheral abrasive surface, means' for venting fluid from thespace between said first and second pistons upon movement'of said second piston `toward said first' piston, and tension means arranged between said pistons adapted normally to bias said pistons away from each other.

2. A device in accordance with claim 1 in which Vthe first piston is arranged on a front end of said device and each of said pistons is followed by an annular deformable sealing sleeve.

3. A device in accordance with claim 2 in which the helical trackway is defined by grooves in said member.

4. A device for cleaning` the interior surface of pipe which comprises a longitudinal member defining with its outer surface at approximately mid-point thereof a plurality of helical grooves.

a first piston defining a peripheral abrasive surface fixedly mounted on a first end of said membera sleeve slidably mounted on a second end of said member, a plurality of pins protruding through said sleeve and extending into said helical grpoves, a second piston fixedly mounted on said sleeve definingaperipheral abrasive surface, means for venting fluid from the space between said first and second pistons upon movement of said second piston toward said first piston, a coil spring arranged between said pistons adapted to resist movement of said second piston relative to said first piston, and an annular deforming sealing sleeve arranged' on said member and on said slidable sleeve following each of said pistons, the first piston being arranged on a front end of said device.

5. A device in accordance "with claim 4 in which the peripheral abrasive surfaces comprise at least one annular wire'brush.

6. A device in accordance with claim v5 in which the first and second pistons comprise at least one annular deformable disc and at least one annular wire brush."

7. A device for cleaning the interior surface of pipe which comprises a longitudinal member defining with its outer surface at approximately mid-point thereof 'a plurality of helical grooves, a first piston" defining at least one annular deformable disc and at least one annular wire brush fxedly mounted on a first endof said member,

a sleeve slidably mounted on a second end of said member, a plurality of pins protruding through said sleeve and extending into said helical grooves, a second piston ixedly mounted on said sleeve defining at least one annular deformable disc and at least one annular wire brush, a coil spring spatially arranged `between said pistons to resist movement of said second piston toward said first piston, an annular deformable sealing sleeve arranged on said member and on said slidable sleeve following each of said pistons, the rst piston being arranged on a front end of said device. and a conduit fluidly communicating the space between said pistons with a space ahead of Said first piston.

8, A device in accordance with claim 7 in which the conduit is defined by said longitudinal member.

LOUIS H. JOHNSON.

5 REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS 10 Number Name Date 176,197 Rogers Apr. 18, 1876 2,263,774 Heltzel Nov. 25, 1941 FOREIGN PATENTS 15 Number Country Date 13,518 Great Britain of 1898 

